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Posted By Administration,
Thursday 15 April 2021
Updated: Thursday 15 April 2021
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Author: The Committee of the Liechtenstein Astronomical Circle, (Erich Walser President)
The Liechtenstein Astronomical Working Group offers public
observation workshops for the population and school classes. Recently
it supported a school project in the Malbun Alpine Valley, an ideal
place to observe the starry sky without parasite light.
”We started
with the daybreak and the observation of the course of the sun, then
we built a sundial to measure the true solar time. In the evening the
schedule was the observation of stars and the planets Saturn and
Jupiter. Even before the Summer Triangle could be seen in
the sky, an “Elon Musk swarm” crossed the dark sky, much brighter than
any stars already visible, high above the majestic Mount Augstenberg at
regular intervals in a long chain of small satellites over the peacefull
Malbun valley ! ” remembers a shocked participant.
Privatization of Space
Space
travel was once the arena for superpowers, but in recent years it has
increasingly become a playground for billionaires. Now many big
businessmen are competing for satellite orbits; Elon Musk , Jeff
Bezos, Florian Krenkel and many others want to grab a place in the sky.
With a global satellite network, they want to secure their access to
high-speed internet for business purposes.
In addition there are hundreds of satellites launched into orbit.
Who is responsible ?
The
International Telecommunications Union, ITU , a specialized agency of
the United Nations and the only organization that deals officially and
worldwide with technical aspects of the Telecommunications, indeed does
attribute frequencies to governments who may resell them to private
operators, but there is no internationally responsible body for the
control of the near-earth orbit. This orbit is crowded with active
satellites and the remainders of disused satellites. Satellites that are
shot up today, will be space debris tomorrow, because the technical
development of space industry is fast. If some accident occurs up there
, there could be serious breakdowns on our planet, we think about
telecommunications, navigation, internet, research, weather and much
more.
Satellite cemeteries
One of the
biggest problems of modern space exploration is the disposal of space
debris. Currently thousands of cheap satellites are planned. A single
rocket can carry up to 600 such mini satellites. These small
satellites cannot be deorbitated, since they don't have controls, but
are cheap and easily built. Steerable satellites can be sent back to
earth and with luck will burn up when re-entering. Another option is to
kick them higher to the so-called satellite cemetery. That's where the
garbage will be orbiting for centuries, if not millennia, around the
earth. If a low orbit becomes a debris dump, it becomes a great danger
for space travel and astronomy.
Who will pay ?
The
orbit has to be cleaned from space junk. Up to now , all measures are
based solely on commitments from space nations, not on legal
regulations. As is well known, commitments are eagerly broken,
especially if they cost a lot of money. Clearing the orbit of its trash
will be very expensive , and will cost billions annually . Who will
pay for the cleaning ?
With tens of thousands of these small
communication satellites, the view of the starry sky is severely
obstructed. Will we soon see more satellites than stars in the sky?
Tags:
astronomy
Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein Physical Society
outreach
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Posted By Administration,
Thursday 15 April 2021
Updated: Thursday 15 April 2021
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Author: NNV
In 2021, the Netherlands’ Physical Society (NNV) celebrates its centennial. The society was founded on April 2nd,
1921, by an impressive group of physicists. Among them three Dutch
laureates of the Nobel Prize in Physics: Hendrik Antoon Lorentz, Heike
Kamerlingh Onnes and Pieter Zeeman. To celebrate this jubilee, we
organise a wide range of activities, for our members as well as for
non-physicists.
We kicked-off with the publication of a set of six
colourful and informative posters for physics classrooms. The posters
are for free and we developed a brochure with additional information on
the topics shown on the posters. The posters are about: astronomy,
medical physics, energy networks, aerospace, computing power, a career
in physics. Each poster contains a QR-code leading to a video. Hundreds
teachers requested us to send them a set of posters.
Tags:
anniversary
cenntnial
Netherlands PHysical Society
NNV
outreach
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Posted By Administration,
Sunday 21 March 2021
Updated: Monday 22 March 2021
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Author: Jan Mlynar
On the EPS supported project proposed and managed by the Czech Physical Society
Science to Go
is a Czech organization whose mission is to bring science to a lay
audience. Our target audience is adult people, and target places vary
from municipal libraries to pubs in small towns or villages. Wherever we
go, we bring our enthusiasm for science with us that we want to share
with people. Most presenters in Science to Go are young researchers and
PhD students - people who are doing top science, who work on narrow
topics but are happy to present them engagingly and put them in a
broader perspective. A typical Science to Go event is held in the
evening, it is ninety minutes long, and it is a mix of three very
different natural sciences topics. We always go to places where there
are lay people not necessarily interested in the sciences. We don't do
presentations in Academia.
Since 2014, there have been about
60 Science to Go events. In total, about 60 topics have been presented
by 60 young scientists. Science to Go visited about 15 different places
all over the Czech Republic. However, it is firmly established just in
the Czech capital city of Prague, where we present scientific topics
regularly in the Scout Institute at the Old Town Square. After the
covid-19 crisis, we plan to significantly extend our list of places
where we regularly go.
The covid-19 crisis didn't stop us!
Although it is impossible to organize in-person events, we keep working
on scientific outreach by available means. We started a successful
facebook show, presenting one topic in 15 minutes each time. We began to do short animated videos and ended up with a film, "A Day with Particles",
that had a premiere at the most renowned particle physics conference,
ICHEP2020. The film was awarded an honorable mention at the Prague
International Monthly Film Festival. During the short period when
restrictions were released, we organized a couple of regular shows, we
presented Science to Go to the community of physicists at the Conference
of Czech and Slovak Physicists, and we projected the film "A Day with
Particles" at a conference of Czech physics teachers.
We are
very much looking forward to restarting our in-person events. However,
we plan to stay in the online world at the same time and to continue
with the Facebook show. Also, we have started to record our live events
and to put the videos on YouTube.
The online activities were created with the massive help of financial
support provided by the EPS. We bought a camera, underwent recording
training, and profited from a private company's services and expertise
specialized in video recording. The film "A Day with Particles"
was co-financed by the EPS support. The future of Science to Go is
ahead of us, and we cannot wait for the beautiful mix of live and online
activities!
Tags:
A Day with Particles
Czech Physical Society
outreach
PhD students
Science to Go
video
young physicists
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Posted By Administration,
Monday 18 January 2021
Updated: Monday 18 January 2021
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Author: Dalibor Paar
Education systems around the world cannot follow the extremely fast
development of science and technology, which is why methods should be
developed to give children an insight into STEM areas and motivate them
to turn to modern professions at an early age.
In the last two
years, the Croatian Physical Society has been implementing the project
"Scientific education from an early age" supported by the Croatian
Ministry of Science and Education. The main purpose of the project is
the introduction of modern physics topics in kindergartens and schools,
with emphasis on the teaching of physics from the age of four. The
results of the program are beyond expectations. The children are
enthusiastic about physics and want more.
Within these activities,
children are introduced not only to basic physical concepts, but also
to current topics of today's science and technology. Topics include
entering the atomic level, understanding how a computer works to the
black hole at the center of our galaxy. All activities are based on a
multitude of experiments that introduce physical concepts in an
interesting way. The aim of these activities is to emphasize the
importance of physical experiments and scientific model in all levels of
education.
To illustrate how children perceive these topics, here are some of their statements after the program (age 5-6 years):
- I liked Schroedinger's cat the most.
- I liked drawing a lot of electrons. And count the electrons in the Radium atom.
- I didn’t know about atoms before, and now I know they made nature.
- I learned that lightning has energy.
As
a contribution to these activities, our member Nikola Poljak published a
series of booklets "Physics for Children 3+" entitled ABC Physics,
Mechanics, Optics, Thermodynamics, and Nuclear Physics.
Tags:
Croatia
Croatian Physical Society
education
outreach
schools
STEM
teaching
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Posted By Administration,
Monday 7 December 2020
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Author: Claudine Hermann, EPWS President, Femmes & Sciences Vice-President
The 20th anniversary of the French association of Women in Science took place on 20-21 November 2020
A
team of highly motivated members began to prepare this anniversary one
year ago. The programme was very ambitious: two sessions related to
enterprises and schooling over a day plus a full day session for the
members, an exhibition of art photos of women scientists on the railings
of Paris Town Hall. But then a first 2020 COVID-19 lockdown occurred in
spring, then a second one this autumn… Multiple readjustments were
necessary, following the new pandemic rules. Finally one session and the
exhibition have been postponed to 2021, and two sessions were adapted
to videoconferencing (by very expert volunteer members!).
On the afternoon of November 20th
the session “Girls Studies Orientation towards Science – Status Quo and
Leverages” primarily targeted teachers (and was an official training
for over 100 of them) and the general public. There were 351 attendees,
from the different regions of France and also from Ivory Coast,
Madagascar, West Indies, Hong Kong, Singapore… After a talk by an
Education scientist on studies and survey results about the choice of
science by girls, the next speaker trained the teachers on “Fighting,
Identifying and De-Crystallising Stereotypes”. Then the different tools
for teenagers and educators on science orientation for young people,
realised by the association Femmes & Sciences (F&S), were
described. Finally a “speed-meeting” allowed five women scientists of
various ages and disciplines to introduce their career path and their
scientific activity. The audience appreciated very much that afternoon
and in particular the testimonies: even if F&S members are visiting
many classes in various parts of France, unfortunately they cannot go
everywhere!
The last session on November 21th during Saturday
morning, “We, the F&S members”, was for members only; 86 of them
were connected out of 350. After an introduction by Nadine Halberstadt,
F&S President, who pointed that it was the first time that the
association was organising such a session for members only, the
attendance was split into groups of 10 persons in “ice-breaking”
parallel sessions. Then each French regional group presented their
activities (tools for teenagers, exhibitions, career descriptions for
teenagers or teenager girls, mentoring of PhD female students, documents
for teachers against stereotypes or presenting portraits of women
scientists of the past and of nowadays…). Next came the analysis of the
results of a survey launched by F&S, and having received almost
3.000 answers, on the way women and men scientists experienced the
COVID-19 period. In the final discussion the participants expressed
their interest in renewing such a session, which allows members to know
better each other and regional groups to take advantage of the other
groups’ experience.
Tags:
EPS EOC
Femmes&Sciences
gender equality
outreach
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Posted By Administration,
Monday 9 November 2020
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The International Day of Light in 2020 was characterized by rapid
reorganization to online and hybrid events, which yielded remarkable
success. There were celebrations in 69 countries reaching an audience of
750,000+. You can find detailed results in this report.
We
are now enthusiastically preparing for the International Day of Light
2021, and we anticipate a strong focus on hybrid and online events
in many countries. Although virtual events cannot replace hands-on
outreach, they do provide other opportunities to hear from a broad range
of international speakers and allow us to reach a much larger audience.
Therefore, one of our key aims in the coming months will be to provide
resources and ideas to help effectively organize successful events in
2021 with the flexibility to adapt depending on how the global health
situation evolves. We will also be developing new initiatives with
international partners. One example is that we will be working
especially closely with the International Astronomical Union to promote
broad public engagement with science and highlight the wonder of the
light from the cosmos.
During 2020, we have seen more than ever
the importance of science communication. There is a strong need to build
public awareness that light science and technology provide not only our
understanding of pandemics, but also the preventative measures,
treatments and diagnostic tools to counter them. The emphasis of the
International Day of Light in 2021 will be on improving means of
outreach and interaction between science and society. As well as
continuing to explain the many societal applications of light science,
we will stress more widely the key messages of how appreciating and
supporting science and technology is a necessary and central part of
today’s interconnected world as well as a universal benefit to all.
As
we begin our planning and develop new resources for you, we encourage
all within the International Day of Light community to continue
following and engaging with our social media channels using the hashtag
#LightDay2021 and the official channels: @IDLOfficial on Twitter, @DayOfLight2021 on Instagram, and the @InternationalDayOfLight
on Facebook. And once again, we acknowledge the continued commitment
and support from the Steering Committee and other partners. Information
about our partnership and how to get involved is here.
For further information, please contact the International Day of Light secretariat:
John Dudley
IDL 2018 Steering Committee Chair
Email: john.dudley@univ-fcomte.fr
Joseph Niemela
UNESCO-ICTP Category 1 Institute
Email: niemela@ictp.it
Bethany Downer
IDL Communications Coordinator
Email: contact@lightday.org
Tags:
2021
IDL2021
International Astronomical Union
International Day of Light
outreach
United Nations
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Posted By Administration,
Monday 9 November 2020
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Author: Arnulf Quadt
Also in this difficult time, we offer again the popular physical
advent calendar "PiA - Physics in Advent". Just like Ms. and Mr. Santa,
we are prepared for everything and come to you by video. Join in,
regardless of, because of or just despite the lockdown, now more than
ever! Under the motto "24 more experiments until Christmas" we offer 24
entertaining physics experiments to do yourself again this year. Due to
the high level of interest from abroad, physics in Advent will, as in
previous years, also be available in English.
PiA is designed for
pupils in grades five to ten and from 11 to 18 years of age. However,
based on the experience of previous years, parents, teachers, students
or those simply interested in physical phenomena also take great
pleasure in it. This year, adults in companies, departments and circles
of friends are also encouraged to join in as a team and solve the
riddle. You can watch a simple experiment every day from 1 to 24
December on YouTube, which you can be easily do yourself using standard
household materials. Afterwards you will try to explain the phenomena,
with four possible answers. The next day, the solution is available -
again via YouTube video. If you wish, the results can be evaluated:
individually, for a school class or even for whole schools. The best
participants, classes or schools receive prizes. In addition to iPods,
books and experiment kits, there are also
Since 1 November, anyone can now register at https://www.physics-in-advent.org
Further information can be found there or at the social media channels:
In
the past years, PiA has always been a great success: in 2019 about
44,000 registered participants (~50% female) from more than 80 countries
participated. Most of them were students from Germany, Austria or
Switzerland. The PiA YouTube and websites were visited more than 1.7
million times.
The project is supported by numerous people from science, television or politics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WntHPDlDiDI
Flyers and posters can be requested free of charge via the contact website: https://physics-in-advent.org/contact
"PiA
- Physics in Advent" is offered and carried out by the Georg-August
University of Göttingen with the support of the Wilhelm and Else Heraeus
Foundation in cooperation with the German, Dutch, Austrian, Swiss and
European Physical Societies, the Association of German Engineers, the
German Aerospace Center, the MNU Association for the Promotion of MINT
Teaching, IUCAA (India), Global Sphere network, Science on Stage, Komm
mach MINT and MINT Zukunft schaffen. It takes place in cooperation with
the successful project "Maths in Advent".
We are looking forward to your participation!
Tags:
DPG
German Physical society
outreach
Physics in Advent
PiA
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Posted By admin,
Monday 10 February 2020
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During the EPS 2019 conference held in Ghent last summer, Rob Appleby, Chris Edmonds and Robyn Watson were awarded the Outreach Prize of the EPS High Energy Physics Division " for the Tactile Collider Project that brings particle physics to blind and visually impaired schoolchildren through touch and sound."
On 14 and 15 September 2019, Tactile Collider was installed at the CERN Open Days. These were attended by 6,000 visitors who had the opportunity to discover the project and it’s unique way of delivering science.
What is Tactile Collider?
The installation consists of a series of metal tubes of around 2 metres in length which are assembled in a ring representing the CERN Large Hadron Collider, a circular particle accelerator of almost 27 km in circumference. Placed within this tube network are tactile representations of the (RF) cavities and dipoles which are made from different materials to encourage participants to touch and explore the accelerator model. Other 3D-printed elements show magnets and the movements of particles inside the accelerator. Participants are also able to touch tactile diagrams to bring to life the Higgs boson.
Tactile Collider invites participants to touch the elements to grasp the principles of a particle accelerator
A clash outside the collider
In 2014, Manchester welcomed "Collider", a temporary exhibition looking at the discovery of the Higgs boson. When two blind visitors asked if there was a way for them to access the exhibit the idea for Tactile Collider was born.
Dr Rob Appleby (University of Manchester) worked alongside Dr Chris Edmonds (University of Liverpool) to look at ways of delivering particle accelerator physics to a visually impaired audience (VI). Using an online forum they asked for people with visual impairments to give advice on what their expectations were in similar situations and what could be suggested to improve facilities in exhibitions. Robyn Watson, a teacher of the visually impaired replied and she became the link between the scientists and the children.
It took 6 months to develop the Tactile Collider installation. In 2017, a prototype was created at Cockcroft Institute and Robyn and her students worked alongside Rob and Chris to finalise the tactile objects and delivery of the project. Later in the same year, a "soft launch" was organised as test event at St Vincent’s School in Liverpool. Robyn went there to observe the participants and she gave feedback again.
In 2018, the Tactile Collider team organised several events throughout the UK: science museums, schools, music festivals. Tactile Collider was taken on tour with the hope of being accessed by as many students as possible. It was intended for children with VI but also worked for a non-VI audience to raise awareness of visual impairment and to make science accessible to all. The project evolved every time it was presented and encountered huge success everywhere.
Parents of the children who attended have explained their delight in feeling that their children can access the same information as other pupils. Tactile Collider is designed to be accessible for children with VI, however this also makes it an exciting project for all students and adults who are interested in discovering science. It simplifies complicated physics concepts and breaks them into smaller, digestible parts.
The project also brings together scientists and children with VI, this is a key aspect of the programme and allows students to connect with someone working with science everyday. For the children with VI having subject specialists like physicists explaining the science gives them the opportunity to explore ideas for further study and employment that they may otherwise have felt wasn’t possible.
Robyn, in her work as teacher of the visually impaired, works with teachers to make their lessons accessible to children. She teaches them that there is value in diversity and inclusion.
Before receiving the 2019 EPS HEP Outreach Award, the Tactile Collider team won the "2018 University of Manchester People’s Vote for the Faculty of Science and Engineering’s Better World Showcase" and was "Highly Commended in the Making a Difference Awards for Social Responsibility 2018 for Outstanding Contribution to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion". They have since won the "RNIB 2019 Innovator of the Year Award" in the UK.
The future of the Tactile Collider
Tactile Collider would like to inspire a generation of children with visual impairements as well as members of the general public. To allow them to engage with high level learning in places like schools, science festivals and museums.
The next step is to develop new projects, organise events in the UK and beyond. Rob, Chris and Robyn are currently planning a workshop to train educators on how to deliver the science behind Tactile Collider and on how to include learners with VI in their lessons and workshops.
So stay tuned for more news about the Tactile Collider team. And let yourself be inspired by their enthusiasm to spread science to everyone!
Rob Appleby and Robyn Watson participated in the CERN Open Days
and welcomed almost 6,000 visitors to explore Tactile Collider
The Tactile Collider team
- Rob Appleby: Physicist at the University of Manchester and the Cockcroft Institute.
- Robyn Watson: Teacher for visually impaired children at Bolton Sensory Support Service.
- Chris Edmonds: Physicist at the University of Liverpool and the Cockcroft Institute.
 You can listen to the article here: https://tinyurl.com/tmwvmuo
(Robyn Watson reading)
author: Gina Gunaratnam
Tags:
EPS HEP
eps hepp prizes
outreach
Tactile Collider
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Posted By Gina Gunaratnam,
Tuesday 19 November 2019
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24 entertaining physics experiments will again be offered this year under the motto "24 more experiments until Christmas" in cooperation with several national and international physical societies and STEM initiatives. Many great prizes can be won.
"PiA - Physik im Advent" is an Advent calendar of a special kind: a physical Advent calendar. Behind every little door there is some education and fun. From 1st to 24th December, small physical experiments that can be carried out with standard household materials will be presented every day as videos by Mr. Santa or Ms. Santa. Participants do the experiments and answer a question on the PiA website. On the following day, there will be a solution video and, if the answer is correct, a point. At Christmas, all participants will receive individual certificates. Among the best participants, prizes will be raffled off in the categories of individual, school class or school, for which numerous donors have donated in cash or kind. In addition to iPods, books, and experimental kits, there will also be a trip to Dallas to watch NBA basketball games with Dirk Nowitzki. Anyone who registers at https://www.physics-in-advent.org can participate. Registration is free and opens on 1st November, PiA starts on 1 December. Posters and flyers can be requested free of charge via the contact form on the PiA website.
„PiA - Physik im Advent" is aimed at children and young people aged between 11 and 18 years, and will take place for the seventh time in 2019. Last year, a new record was set with 40,000 registered participants, 49% of whom were girls, and 1.7 million visitors overall. All parents, teachers, students or adults interested in physical phenomena are invited to participate. "PiA - Physics in Advent" is intended to awaken in all people the joy of experimenting on one's own and offer entertainment and learning at the same time. The calendar is available in German and English.
The project is supported by numerous people from science, television or politics. The patron is the biophysicist and Nobel Prize winner Prof. Dr. Erwin Neher.
This year, for the first time, we also offer PiA news vie the messenger Telegram via the channel „PhysicsInAdvent“.
"PiA - Physik im Advent" is offered in cooperation with the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, the Wilhelm und Else Heraeus-Stiftung, the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft (DPG), the Österreichische Physikalische Gesellschaft (ÖPG), the Schweizer Physikalische Gesellschaft (SPS), the Netherlands' Physical Society, the European Physical Society (EPS), IUCAA (India), „Global Sphere“, „Science on Stage“, „Komm Mach MINT“ as well as „MINT Zukunft schaffen“. It takes place in cooperation with the successful project "Mathe im Advent" of the German Mathematical Society (DMV).
In order to facilitate the editorial work, the PiA team offers texts, audio and video material on the Internet at http://www.physik-im-advent.de/media Further information is available on the website or on the social media channels:
https://www.physics-in-advent.org
http://www.facebook.com/PhysikImAdvent
https://twitter.com/PhysicsInAdvent
https://www.instagram.com/physikimadvent
https://t.me/PhysicsInAdvent
https://www.physik-im-advent.de
https://twitter.com/PhysikImAdvent
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Arnulf Quadt
Georg-August-University of Göttingen
II Physics Institute
Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1
37077 Goettingen, Germany
aquadt@uni-goettingen.de
By the way, many journalists also enjoy "PiA - Physics in Advent"!
Tags:
DPG
EPS Member Societies
German Physical Sociey
outreach
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Posted By Gina Gunaratnam,
Monday 13 May 2019
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On 18 May 2019, Mulhouse will celebrate the International Day of Light (IDL2019) with a series of workshops for adults and children.
The European Physical Society supports the event.
 View the complete programme on the flyer below.
View the IDL2019 events worldwide: https://www.lightday.org/
Attached Files:
Tags:
IDL2019
International Day of Light
IYL2015
Light
Mulhouse
outreach
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